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ACT no longer a requirement, as Lawmakers cut testing budgets

Funding for the ACT college entrance exam has been cut as it is no longer a requirement for juniors.

The Legislature reduced test funding in the Minnesota Department of Education from $42 million to $22 million, reports the Star Tribune.

Senator Charles Wiger, DFL-Maplewood, chair of the E-12 Finance and Policy Committee and a co-author of the bill, said toStar Tribunethat“lawmakers heard testimony from a number of superintendents who said the ACT should be optional. Some students had already taken it and didn’t want to test again, while others had no interest in taking the college entrance exam.”

The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment GRAD tests in reading, writing and math will also end, according toMPR. This change was originally planned for next year but has moved up.

“Lawmakers' decision to end the requirement for all juniors to take the ACT college entrance exam, which was ordered in 2013 as a way to get more minority and low-income students to take the ACT as a step toward college, represents the biggest change in statewide testing, education officials said” reported theCrookston Times.